Chapter 11 bankruptcy deal crushes customers dream vacation plans

Imagine spending thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars to book the vacation of a lifetime. Maybe you're celebrating an occasion, or perhaps you're taking your family someplace they have long dreamed of visiting. 

No matter what the reason, you've planned ahead for months, sent in all your deposits, or have even paid in full, and then — without notice — your travel company stops answering its phone. At first, you don't panic too much, but then the news breaks that the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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As a customer, that leaves you in the lurch, not knowing what the bankruptcy filing means for your trip. Most people would assume that, since they have paid the travel company, they would have some sort of protection. 

In reality, at least in the case of customers of Vantage Deluxe World Travel, that's not the case. The bankrupt company's contracts with its customers allowed it to not refund customers' money in the event of a bankruptcy filing.

That's in fine print that few people read, according to the Better Business Bureau's Josh Planos.

"A lot of these agencies do not provide refunds, or in some cases make it very, very difficult for you to access those funds," he said.

Vantage Travel customers, however, are not fully out of luck, but they may not like how the new owner is handling their situation.

Vantage Travel customers get some relied

What used to be Vantage Deluxe World Travel has been purchased by Pacific Travel Partners for $2 million. That company, a subsidiary of Aurora Expeditions, will now operate under the name Vantage Explorations.

That's mixed news for customers of the former company. On the positive side, people who paid money to the old company will get some of their money back in the form of travel credits.

This may not seem like good news, but United Travel, a Singapore company that had also bid for Vantage, had not been expected to offer any sort of refund. 

The new owner's offer could, in theory, make jilted customers whole, but there are some major catches to the travel credits its offering, Consumer Rescue shared:

• The credits can be redeemed with either Aurora Expeditions or Pacific Travel.
• Travelers may pay for up to 50 percent of the cost of a new ocean trip with their credits.
• Travelers may use their credits to pay for up to 20% of river or land tours.
• Travel credits can be shared with friends and family but can’t be sold.

Credits must be used by November 2028. Travel insurance did not cover these losses because policies generally only pay for weather or health-related cancellations.

New Vantage Travel owners want to move on

The new owners face a difficult situation as they did not receive any of the deposits or assets of the old company. Travelers had paid over $100 million to Vantage Deluxe World Travel, but that money did not convey with the sale.

Pacific Travel Partners won the bidding for the company at least partially because it was willing to do something for the customers of the former brand. But, the new owner has not hired any of the management of the former brand.

"We have no relationship to the former owners or management of Vantage Travel business and do not intend to employ the former senior management going forward," Aurora Expeditions and Pacific Travel Chairman Neville Buch told Consumer Rescue.

The challenge with the credit offer is that people will have to take multiple trips to use their funds. These are not inexpensive trips, so that could make using the full credit (or even some of it) impossible for many of Vantage Travel's past customers.

 Aurora Expeditions specializes in taking small groups "on voyages of discovery to regions that inspired them, thereby creating lifelong ambassadors for the preservation and protection of these sacred places," the company shared on its website.